1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a compact, single use applicator in which a lyophilized pharmaceutical is packaged in powder form to be rehydrated prior to use by the addition thereto of liquid diluents stored in respective sealed compartments so that a precise amount of reconstituted medication can be applied from an absorbent pad, or the like, directly to a target site for the treatment of acne, and other skin disorders.
2. Background Art
It is sometimes desirable for those suffering from acne or other skin disorders to periodically apply a topical medication to a tissue area to enhance treatment and speed healing. It is common to package the topical acne medication as a liquid or cream in a bottle or tube or as a series of moist pads in a jar. Because the liquid, cream and moisture is subject to evaporation and/or deterioration with time, the shelf life of the usual packaged medication may be undesirably shortened. That is to say, once the container is opened and the medication is exposed to the atmosphere, some of the moist treatment pads may dry out while some of the liquid or cream medication may evaporate or spill or lose its effectiveness.
In addition, it may not be convenient to carry on one's person a relatively large container in which the liquid medication or moist pads are packaged. More particularly, the user may have to transport a bottle, tube or jar even though only a small portion of the medication therein will be used during any given treatment. Moreover, there is no readily available way for the user to control the application of a precise amount of acne medication to this tissue. Too much or too little liquid or cream is sometimes dispensed from a bottle or tube. For example, if the tissue area to be treated is small, a moist pad is often saturated with more medication than that actually needed to adequately treat the acne.
In this same regard, some topical treatments require that two or more liquids and/or solids be mixed together to activate the acne medication. However, the liquids and/or solids can not be mixed prior to shipment by the manufacturer, because the resultant medication may lose its effectiveness, particularly if the medication will be shelved for a long time. Hence, it has been a long standing problem to provide a multi-constituent acne medication in a compact package where the different constituents are isolated from one another but may be conveniently and selectively mixed together in a sterile environment just prior to use so that the medication may be applied directly from the package to the tissue area undergoing treatment.
The foregoing problems result in inefficiency and/or waste which can prove to be inconvenient, particularly if the medication is expensive or the acne requires a long period of treatment. In some cases, the user may have to replace the medication prematurely, because of the evaporation, deterioration or inefficient use thereof. In other cases, the user may elect to forego treatment altogether, especially when travelling far from home.
Reference may be made to our earlier U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 08/302,587 filed September, 1994 for an example of an applicator for a multi-constituent medication to treat skin disorders, such as acne.